Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin expects his young guards to learn more than a thing or two from Serbian legend Milos Teodosic when the two teams square off early Thursday, July 1 Manila time in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.
SJ Belangel and RJ Abarrientos will have a big task at hand when they face their Serbian counterparts including Teodosic, a veteran of numerous Olympic Games and FIBA tournaments who even had a two-year spell with the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.
READ: Minus NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Serbia fields top European players for FIBA OQT
“The answer obviously with the point guard situation is when you play against a player like Teodosic you both want to compete, you’re desperate to test your skills against a player who’s played at a level Milos has and is a caliber of player he is,” Baldwin said in a virtual pre-OQT press conference held Monday, June 28.
“But the other thing is we keep alluding to is we wanna learn lessons. We wanna realize that you’re going up against a master of the game and there are things that you can learn from the big picture when you go back and review the video, but also you want to test yourself and what you can learn from possession to possession.
“So everything he does well, you try to counter as quickly as you can and we do that in the scouting reports. We try to prepare our players, but there’s nothing like going out there and stand toe to toe with some of these Serbian players, and there is a level of excitement for our players and that there’s also a great challenge.
“And I think as long as we respect those thought processes, I think the players will enjoy the process but they’ll also find out a lot about themselves and what they need to learn and to improve themselves,” added Baldwin.
Also expected to put Belangel, Abarrientos and even Dwight Ramos if his injured groin will improve enough to allow him to play are Euroleague Most Valuable Player Vasilije Micic and Stefan Jovic.
Belangel and Abarrientos were among the players who impressed during the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Pampanga, displaying poise rare for two young players during Gilas’ twin wins over South Korea.
But that is nothing compared to the stern test the two guards will face against Serbia.